The Dragon Reborn
by Arhan the Dragon
Summary: Join Harry Potter, brother to the Boy Who Lived, as he takes his first steps into becoming a man of legends. Blessed with an ancient power long forgotten, he will rise above his station by any means necessary, no matter the cost. Non-BWL Harry. Rated T, may change later.
1. Prologue- Beginnings

**The Dragon Reborn - Prologue: Beginnings**

" _He came like the wind, like the wind touched everything, and like the wind was gone" - Loial, Son of Arent, Son of Halan_

" _...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives..."_

Trelawney's voice trailed off slowly as Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry frowned in thought as the seeress slowly came back to her senses. His mind raced in the possible consequences of the prophecy as he shoved a facade of pleasure onto his features and he grinned at the woman, blue eyes twinkling as they so often did.

"It pleases me to say you have the job, Ms. Trelawney, or should I say professor?"

-TDR-

Lily Potter, previously Lily Evans, lay on a hospital bed, nurses bustling around her as she fought to give birth to her second child, having given birth to her firstborn, Charlus, hours earlier, on the cusp of midnight, but it was now August, and dawn was breaking out over the hospital, and as the rays shone through the window one of the nurses raised her arms, a small, bloodied bundle in her within, surprisingly quiet compared to the loud wailing of his older brother. As Lily looked at her youngest and smiled in pure joy, she slowly drifted off to sleep as she cradled her two children.

-TDR-

In a small shack near the town of Little Hangleton, an individual lay in bed due to an incurable sickness, and he was mad more oft than not. But it was at the same time as the birth of Harry Potter that his mad rambling stopped, and his voice took on a raspy quality.

" _He comes! He who is of the blood but is not comes! He Who Comes With The Dawn! He is Reborn, and it will be by his sacrifice that the world is saved. His blood shall open the way, and his body will be the bridge. He shall break the world and forge it anew in his vision. Four times shall he be marked, twice to live and twice to die. With his coming shall the world be broken, The Dragon Reborn Comes, He Who Comes With The Dawn!"_

And with his prophecy given, his body gave out, and Marvolo Gaunt died.

-TDR-

It was funny, James Potter thought, that two twins could look so different. His firstborn and heir, Charlus, named after James' father, was already very similar to him in looks. A shock of black hair rested upon his head, although he had his mother's beautiful emerald eyes. And then there was Harry, the younger twin, smaller than his brother, and more pale by far, which made his red hair stand out all the more, but it was the boy's eyes that gained his attention. Piercing grey eyes that seemed to look inside his very soul took in everything with an almost lazy way of observation.

James Potter sat with his two boys, and looked upon his wife, resting upon the hospital bed she had given birth on, red hair framing her beautiful features, and smiled in happiness.

-TDR-

James' body lay broken and slumped on the floor, victim to a stunner from the dark lord after a valiant struggle. Voldemort was taking no chances with this night, the death of the one prophesied to end him would create his final horcrux and secure his immortality. Quite fitting, in his eyes. He strode up the stairs, robe billowing around him but not impairing him in any way, and as he crested the flight of stairs he encountered the mudblood that Severus was enamored with.

"Step aside woman, and I shall let you live, I am only here for the child of prophecy"

"You will not get either of my children while I am able to stop you"

Voldemort sneered at that, his features twisting into a visage that showed how superior he believed himself to be. "Do you really think you could stop me? Lord Voldemort himself?" he scoffed at the perceived slight against his ego. "You couldn't defeat me on my worst day, now step aside"

"No"

Voldemort sighed, and raised his wand of yew and phoenix feather.

" _Stupefy_ "

He was a man of his word after all, and Severus was a most faithful servant. He walked over her body, careful not to step on the woman, and then he was in the nursery, two cots sat next to the far wall, names engraved on the side of each one.

 _Harry James Potter_

 _Charlus Ignotus Potter_

The child named Harry was born in August, he had been informed, as opposed to Charlus' birth day of July 31st, but the boys eyes held _something_ within them, something entirely alien to him. He pushed the thought aside, there were more pressing issues to deal with, he decided. He raised the sword of Godric Gryffindor, his final horcrux, the final artifact of the founders, pointed his wand at the eldest Potter child, and unleashed the infamous killing curse.

" _Avada Kedavra_ "

And as green light jetted from the tip of his wand, Voldemort knew something had gone wrong. Unknown to him, the state of his splintered soul, combined with the protective magic provided by Lily's sacrifice, though not as powerful as if she had died, was enough to cause his soul to completely fracture, lowering the power of his killing curse, and resulting in the breakdown of his physical form as well. A small sliver of his soul was shaved off, and attached itself to the forehead of the young Charlus Potter. The piercing grey eyes of the redheaded child saw it all, and though he could not comprehend what happened, he saw it all.

AN: So here's the prologue to my new story, bit over the place, but it all takes place in the order that its written, with the second, third and fourth scene taking place at the same time. This will be a Wheel of Time crossover, but not too much, just a few things brought over. There will be some AU to both series so don't go in expecting everything to be the exact same. Anyway, cheers for reading, and I promise the next chapter will be more structured so to speak.


	2. Chapter 1

**Year One**

 **Chapter One - Books, Wands and Family Drama**

It had been ten years since the defeat of the dark lord, Voldemort, and the wizarding world celebrated still. However, the Potter family, despite the fame of the Boy-Who-Lived, lived in relative peace. Lily had attained her masteries in both potions and charms in the time of peace while James had been promoted to the position of Head Auror after the dust had settled and his famous capture of the Lestrange brothers along with Rudolphus' wife Bellatrix following the mind breaking torture of Frank and Alice Longbottom that had been featured heavily in the Daily Prophet.

The Potter house in Godric's Hollow, repaired a few months after the events of Voldemort's attack, was a flurry of activity as the inhabitants prepared to leave for Diagon Alley, the shopping hub of wizarding Britain.

"Harry! Charlus! Get down here!" the Potter matriarch called out, hands full with a bag of floo powder and the much smaller hand of the youngest child, Emily. Her words were followed by a cacophony of loud thudding sounds as her two sons hurried down the stairs, feet slamming repeatedly on carpeted stairs.

The faces of Harry and Charlus Potter came into view a few scant seconds later, Harry's pale features surrounded by his dark red hair, piercing grey eyes crinkled in excitement, the joy of visiting the alley evident on his face for all to see, a small grin gracing his features. As opposed to his brother's near cocky, toothy grin, a replica of the smile one James Potter had worn throughout the first five years at Hogwarts. Charlus was tanned where Harry was pale, long hours spent on a nearby public quidditch pitch having darkened the boy's skin slightly.

Charlus strode past his mother, grabbing a handful of powder on the way, not mindful of the grains he dropped onto the floor, and called out as he stepped into the fireplace and threw down his powder.

"Leaky Cauldron!"

With a flare of green flames he was gone, leaving Harry, Lily and Emily alone in the house, James having left first to make sure everyone arrived together. Harry smiled softly at his mother and sister as he took some floo powder, taking care not to cause a mess as his brother did, and stepped towards the fireplace, his vision obscured by the flames surrounding him. And, repeating the words his brother had said, Harry vanished, pulled along by the magic of the Floo Network.

-TDR-

The Leaky Cauldron was a small pub that served as the popular entrance to Diagon Alley, most people choosing not to go through the Midnight Inn, the entrance to Knockturn Alley, mostly for reputations sake. The average witch or wizard tended to avoid the unpleasantness of Knockturn Alley, and for good reason, in that it was not patrolled by law enforcement, nor was there any real regulation on dark creatures there, such as werewolves or vampires. The Ministry had, of course, attempted to do something about the alley, but it was eventually decided to be a pointless endeavour, after a number of hit wizards and an auror had lost their lives in the attempt. Now the darker side of Diagon Alley was full of petty criminals, dodgy store owners, social recluses and the odd vampire or werewolf.

Harry had considered slipping off to explore the mysterious alley more than a few times, but he knew that was as close to a death wish as he would ever get, if not by something in the alley itself, then by his mother when she came to fetch him and wring some sense into him. So that idea had been benched for a later date. After exiting the floo, he stepped to the side, and just in time it seemed, as he was followed by Emily Potter, her dark hair flying everywhere as she tumbled out of the fireplace and landed face first on the floor of the unusually busy pub. She started to rise amidst the raucous laughter, no one laughing more than her oldest brother Charlus, but she was assisted by Harry, his hand lowered to a position that would be easy for her to grab, and she looked up at him, his soft smile and loving eyes, and took his hand before dusting herself off.

Emily was moved towards him as he strode over towards his family, standing in between Charlus and Emily, a hand on her shoulder, his extra inch of height allowing him to look down, if only slightly at his brother's amused face.

"Find something funny did you, Charlus?"

His question was met by narrowed eyes and an irate attitude.

"So what if I did? Gonna go cry to mummy? You're pathetic, always spending time with mum and Emily, why don't you go tuck yourself into another potions book?"

"I spend time with them not only because they are family and I love them, but also due to the fact that your attention seeking, arrogant behaviour takes up what little time father has off of work. So, Charlus, if anyone here is the pathetic one, well, it would obviously have to be you."

His brother turned towards him bodily at that, nostrils flaring in anger and fists clenching as Emily chose to hide behind her preferred brother. James finally noticed the events taking place next to him and put a restraining hand on his heir's shoulder.

"Charlus, calm yourself, and Harry, don't provoke your brother, now enough of this nonsense."

He finished just in time to turn around and watch his wife exit the floo as gracefully as a lady of nobility may descend a flight of stairs. He grinned at her, reverting back to his so called 'charming grin' that had irritated the muggleborn redhead all throughout her years at Hogwarts.

"Enough of that, husband. Where to first do you reckon boys?"

"Quidditch store/Bookshop"

The twins answered at the same time, each glaring at the other with irritation clear in their eyes. Lily exhaled sharply at the dislike the two boys held for each other, and bemoaned the stupidity of boys, young boys especially.

"Very well, James, you can take Charlus to the quidditch shop, I'll take Harry to Flourish's. Emily, who would you like to go with?"

Emily looked indecisive for a long moment, hesitating to pick between either of her brothers. She may have liked Harry more, but she did prefer to remain a neutral party in all things involving her siblings. She looked at her two brothers, one smiling his gentle smile at her, the one that seemed to come out just for her, and the other that wasn't even bothering to look at her. Her smile fell before she made up her mind.

"Umm, I'd like to go with you and Harry, please."

Her words were followed by a snort from the oldest Potter child, his face showing nothing but derision.

"Did you really expect anything else? Cmon dad, lets just go already, I wanna have a look at the new Nimbus." 

He walked off, followed by a puzzled James Potter, and towards a crowd of adoring fans of the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry almost pitied his brother's fame. Almost.

Turning to his younger sibling and mother he smiled, eyes closing as a result.

"Well," he said, voice strained, "that was fun. Shall we?"

And with a pair of nods they moved off, heading past Quality Quidditch Supplies and towards Flourish and Blotts.

-TDR-

Flourish and Blotts was a quiet store, two stories of bookshelves covering nearly every topic known to wizardkind. Some were of a darker nature yes, but they were merely documentations of questionable magic, hardly instruction manuals. Harry was fond of the store, it brought a sense of calm that was not easily found elsewhere, and it was a repository of knowledge. Contrary to what his brother believed, Harry was not a bookworm, he did have a healthy respect for books and the knowledge they held, but was not obsessed with all books, mostly just those on the topic of potions and the mind. His mother, while lenient, was not open to him reading advanced potions books, or books that instructed the user to manipulate their mind. So the subject of legilimency and occlumency was out, as were books such as _Moste Potente Potions_.

He wandered off towards the second level of the store, leaving behind his two family members. His eyes drifted from shelf to shelf, taking in the words magically engraved into the metal panels that were floating above the aisles.

 _Charm Theory and Application_

 _Advanced Charm Theory and Application_

 _History (Wizardkind)_

 _History (Magical Creatures)_

 _Potions (Ingredients and Concoctions)_

 _Potions (Supplementary Texts)_

He stopped as he reached the last two rows of shelves, gazing at the leatherbound books that detailed basic ingredient effects, brewing recipes, and texts to supplement the previously given knowledge. It held books that covered potions from an educational standpoint, organised by grade, books that gave added knowledge of the years potions and poisons that were deemed too 'unnecessary' to be included in the original book.

He strode down the aisle, skipping past the first three years of potions textbooks from the Hogwarts curriculum, stopping at the fourth year text, and pulling it from the shelf, watching as the empty slot was quickly filled by another copy of the book. Quickly taking off the fourth year supplementary text as well, he made his way back to the front counter to rejoin his mother and sister. As he reached them, the door opened to reveal his father and brother, Potter senior sporting a bruise on his left cheek. Arching her eyebrow at the sight, Lily waited for his explanation in pointed silence.

"Aha, we may have run into the Malfoys at the quidditch store. Some words were said, some punches were thrown and we ah, may have been kicked out of the store for the day."

Lily's sigh punctured the silence that followed James' explanation, her head shaking in disappointment as Harry looked at his father in shock. Sure, the man was really more of a manchild, but surely he hadn't gotten himself kicked out of a _quidditch store!_ That was the equivalent of an alcoholic being kicked out of a bar before getting drunk.

James was left to wonder as to his wife's mood as she turned without a word to finish the purchase of school books for her children. Paying a decent sum of fifteen galleons for the lot, she shrunk the two packages before placing them in her handbag. She walked past James, who slumped over at her silence before following her out, fearing the tongue lashing that was yet to come.

The visit to Flourish and Blotts was succeeded by a whirlwind visit through Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment, Slug and Jiggers, and Madame Malkin's which was just a quick visit as she still had the boys' measurements on record from their recent visit.

Before long, they found themselves outside of Ollivander's, the windows showing a dimly lit shop that was filled only slightly by the natural light filtering through enchanted windows. Stepping through the door, the Potter family was greeted by an old man with a raspy voice, his silvery, moon like eyes gazing at them from behind the counter.

"Well well, it's about time you arrived, I've been expecting you for quite some time now." He looked over first at James, followed shortly by a glance at Lily, "Pliable mahogany, eleven inches and swishy willow, ten and a quarter inches."

Lily smiled at the old wandmaker, her eyes crinkling slightly as she did so.

"Your memory is as sharp as ever Mr. Ollivander. Yes, we were supposed to come in last week but something came up at James' work and we had to cancel the plans, wanted it to be a family event. I'm sure you understand."

"Indeed I do Mrs. Potter, indeed I do." he peered intently at Harry and Charlus for a moment, his eyes focusing on theirs for a unnervingly long time. "I can tell that this will be a long process. Well, may as well start with the oldest, come along Charlus."

As the Potter heir followed the mysterious wandmaker, Harry had not realised just how long he would have to wait.

Two hours and fifty-three pages of a potions textbook later, Harry's reverie was broken by a sudden yelp of terror, and his eyes darted towards the sound only to see his brother running out of the backroom, arms clutching a long box that held his wand within. Raising a brow in question, Harry was ignored in favour of his brother starting a whispered conversation with their parents, and so, without a word, he stood and strode into the room his brother had fled from.

"Ahh, young Harry, I'm sure you're quite eager for your wand, quite eager indeed. Please sit, I hope you won't take as long as your brother, but if you do it is not my place to question the choices of the wands now is it?"

Harry shook his head in the negative, but he didn't sit, instead he wandered the large room that was filled from floor to ceiling in bookshelves that held boxes upon boxes of wands. He continued walking all the way to the back of the room, where a smaller bookshelf sat against the wall, only coming up to his chest in height. Eyeing the boxes in speculation he turned to Ollivander.

"These wands here, what are they?"

"Those would be my first ten creations, all fine wands I assure you, but no one has ever matched with them, it truly is a shame, a wandmaker's first creations sitting unused on a shelf. Why do you ask?"

"I feel… something, but I'm not quite sure what really. But there's something pulling at my mind, grabbing my attention." His fingers trailed over box after box of wands, stopping finally on the far left box. "May I, Mr. Ollivander?"

The man blinked owlishly before nodding, eyes never leaving the box the boy's fingers rested upon. Seeing the wandmaker's nod of approval, Harry removed the box from the shelf, slipped the lid off and gazed at the wand within. It was truly beautiful in his eyes, at a glance it was pure black, but as it caught the light it showed a tinge of green, so dark that it may as well have been black. It was etched with a serpentine creature curled around the wand, silver filigree replacing the missing wood.

"This is a beautiful wand Mr. Ollivander, may I ask what inspired it?"

The man chuckled at Harry's question before answering. "In my wandmaking youth I was still oh so obsessed with the founders of Hogwarts, what made them so special amongst all their peers at the time. I figured it may have been the wands they used, but I was not certain, so in my hubris I attempted to make a wand in honour of each of them that would reflect the very personality of the founder. The very first I made is resting in your hands, the most talented idealistic of the four, the most dedicated in his beliefs, and the most dangerous founder. In your hands you hold the wand I crafted in reflection of Salazar Slytherin himself."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise, and he looked down at the wand in a new light, his fingers wrapping around the base of the wood. Raising it to eye level, he swished the wand in wonder, and as he did so, emerald and silver sparks flowed from the tip as trumpets sounded in the ears of those currently occupying the shop. And a solitary silver tear flowed down the cheek of Garrick Ollivander as he croaked out in a whisper.

"Cypress wood, etched with and soaked in basilisk venom, powdered basilisk horn core, twelve inches, rigid. This wand will serve you well as long as you reflect the ideals of Salazar Slytherin"

And with those words, he walked Harry out to the waiting room, asked for his fourteen galleons, and when the Potters left his store, he wept in joy.

AN: Hey guys, Arhan here. So begins the first proper chapter of my story. I was originally going to have the express ride, sorting and the next day in this chapter, but this felt like a good place to end it so I did. I feel this chapter helps sort of set the tone of the Potter family as it currently stands, and that's what this chapter is mainly about. On the issue of Charlus and Harry, I don't mean to bash anyone at all, because I personally don't like that in a fanfic, regardless of how I feel about the character, but I see Charlus as a more arrogant character due to his fame mostly, that and he is much closer to James, as opposed to Harry who is more friendly with the two women of the family. One reviewer asked me to change Charlus' name to Harry, and Harry's to literally anything else mainly due to the looks of the two characters and their potential personalities, but I personally think it works just fine. Let me know what you guys all think and I'll see what happens. Cheers for reading and I'll catch you next time, Arhan out.


	3. Chapter 2

**Year One**

 **Chapter Two - Train Rides and Sortings**

Harry sat in an empty compartment on the Hogwarts Express, the scarlet and gold train that carried students to and from Hogwarts, his legs crossed on the seat as he used them to rest his latest book, _Magical Drafts and Potions_ , while he quilled notes into the margins and wherever he could fit them from the accompanying supplementary book, _So You Want A Mastery (Potions) Grade Four_ , writing in whatever he found remotely relevant to furthering his potions knowledge. The book detailed minor improvements to the overall process, when to dice things as opposed to slicing, or how to best extract the juices from a particular ingredient.

His peace and quiet was interrupted by the sliding door slamming open, and a head of bushy hair being shoved into the compartment, courtesy of the head's owner. She looked at him before speaking, her somewhat bossy sounding voice filling the small space.

"Have you seen a toad? Neville's lost his."

Harry blinked slowly at the question, a toad? Most people didn't deviate from the standard cat or owl as a general rule. "No, can't say that I have, sorry Neville." His final words were directed at the shy and chubby looking blonde boy behind the young girl, his eyes dropping in disappointment. "However," at this the boy looked up at him, hope radiating from his eyes, "I do believe that anyone wearing a prefect badge should be able to help you. Prefects are fifth years and up, and the summoning charm is a fourth year spell." The boy practically radiated happiness now, practically running off towards the front of the train.

The bushy haired girl cocked her head at him, eyes focussing on his, her slightly oversized teeth biting gently on her lower lip.

"My name's Hermione. Hermione Granger."

Harry nodded in recognition at the girl's statement before responding.

"Harry Potter, pleasure to meet you"

Her eyes widened in recognition, most likely at his last name if he was to guess.

"Harry Potter?! As in brother of the Boy-Who-Lived Charlus Potter."

"That would be my older brother yes"

"Wow, he's really famous, in both _Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ and _Greatest Wizards of the Twentieth Century_ "

Harry simply sighed at his lost peace and quiet and settled in for a long and irritating train ride.

-TDR-

Thankfully, Harry thought, the train trip was not too irritating in retrospect. He had heard from a passing group that his brother had been accosted by the Malfoy heir, and he considered it a small mercy that he didn't have to deal with it. Not only that but after a half hour of droning on, the muggleborn witch had finally stopped talking and started reading, allowing him a modicum of the peace he'd had before she entered.

He left the compartment in order to let Hermione change in peace, simply slipping on his robe as he had already been dressed in his school uniform.

"Well well, if it isn't the reject Potter. Not able to suck up to scarhead enough to get a seat in his compartment?"

Harry sighed as he turned to face the owner of the irritating drawl, one Draco Malfoy. His limited experiences with the arrogant pureblood left much to be desired, his father's son through and through, Draco embodied little of the Black charm that the maternal side of his family exuded, each in their own way. Draco did not have charm, he had arrogance, and it echoed in every little thing that he did.

"Draco, I neither need nor want to sit with my older brother, simply because I do not like him, much like I dislike you, so do me a favour and leave me alone"

"Claws out already Potter? Someone must have done a thorough job on you already, what that mudblood mother of yours not teach you any manners?"

Harry's fist clenched in restrained anger, muscles twitching in barely controlled rage. His emotions burned like a raging fire, washing over everything else in its way, beginner calming exercises doing nothing to quell the inferno that was his anger.

"I suggest, Malfoy, that you shut your mouth, before someone does you the favour of shutting it for you"

The blonde's last name was spat out with an equal measure of venom that Draco did his own. All of a sudden, the inferno vanished, leaving only a small tongue of fire that raged in a nonexistent wind.

Draco pulled his wand out and aimed it directly at the young Potter's face, a scant inch away from his eyes. Narrowing his sharp eyes, Harry tried to return to the bonfire that was his previous anger, feeding all of his rage into the small tongue of flame, but he was unsuccessful, only becoming _more_ calm as a result, but he could feel his focus increasing, vision improving slightly, and he saw Draco beginning to maneuver his wrist in preparation for a spell.

Faster than he thought possible, Harry's arm snapped up, hand slapping Draco's in order to move it anywhere but pointing at his face, and Draco's yell of ' _Diffindo'_ filling the corridor of the train. Harry was slightly too late, he realised, as he felt a trickle of blood running down his cheek, the sting of pain following shortly after.

Both Draco's and Harry's eyes widened in surprise, the blonde boy paling as he realised what he had done, an apology quick to his lips.

"Potter, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Harry's venom stained cypress wood wand was flicked out in an instant, interrupting the Malfoy's apology as the black and silver and wand appeared in front of his eyes. The fear in Draco's eyes was easily visible to Harry, and still within the clarity brought on by the void he found himself in, he knew he could not truly hurt the boy, not that he knew any overly harmful spells, but improvisation, now that he was good at.

' _LUMOS!'_

The shouted spell caught Draco by surprise, as did the thunderous blow to the cheek that followed near instantaneously after. Harry only saved himself temporary blindness by squinting his eyes as he shouted the incantation, and even still he had spots of light burned into his retina for a few seconds afterwards.

A quick wave of his wand and the light went out from the tip, and it was quickly deposited into the improvised wand holster sewn into his robes. He then knocked on the cabin door, and entered at the come in that followed his unspoken request, leaving a stunned blonde behind wondering just what the hell had happened.

-TDR-

Having just gotten off the boats carrying them over the lake, Harry still stared in amazement at the magical castle. It was breathtaking, tall spires silhouetting against a star filled sky, the torch lit entrance doors an ancient wooden creation, a splendor of untouchable wood, affected, but not ravaged by, the passage of time. It was a similar story with the stone walls, the extremely old masonry coarse to the touch, but not in a harmful way. Harry was fascinated with the castle, his senses being enveloped by it.

His exploration of the nearby features was interrupted by a familiar, stern faced old woman, her scottish accent cutting through the awed silence of the students.

"If you're done Mr Potter? Yes? Good, we shall continue in now"

For a brief second, Charlus wore a confused expression, before realising the potter in question was in fact, not him, and then the look on his face transformed into a sneer of amusement, the redhead at his side, Ron, if Harry's memory was to be believed, looked between the two with an unsure expression.

The group was quick to follow after the aged witch, her emerald robes an interesting contrast to her status of Gryffindor head of house, at that thought he pictured his mother's old friend, who he knew to hold that status of Slytherin head of house, Severus Snape, dressed in crimson and gold clothing and could barely restrain the giggle that threatened to break out of his throat and mouth. Hermione, who had been walking next to him, looked over in concern for him as he started spluttering in an attempt to confine his amusement at the thought inside himself.

They walked through a large room that had corridors branching off on both left and right walls, along with another pair of ancient doors opposite where they now stood. McGonagall turned to face them, her voice ringing out in the eerie silence of the room.

"Behind these doors lays the great hall, it is where you shall have breakfast, lunch and dinner and often serves as a place of celebration and socialising. For tonight it serves as the place where you will be sorted and then partake in the welcoming feast. As many of you no doubt know, you will be sorted into one of four houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin. You will be sorted based on the traits that you possess that each founder thought to be most important, and it will be accomplished by a painless and effortless process. I will call you in momentarily, please be patient until then"

She slipped out into the 'Great Hall', leaving a group of young children alone to do what they pleased, and to the Malfoy heir that meant terrorising the Potter that had rejected his offer of friendship.

"So Scarhead, looking forward to being a 'puff reject? Merlin knows it's all you'll ever accomplish now that you've had your fifteen minutes of fame."

Harry sighed in fear of what was to come, his brother had always had an issue with anger management, and to him the insult of being suspected as anything _but_ a Gryffindor was an insult of the highest order. In the corner of his eye, the youngest Potter could see his older brother reddining with anger, hands working themselves in and out of the form of clenched fists. Knowing his brother was about to reach breaking point and only from a single insult, Harry started towards the two, but his progress, like his brothers reply, was interrupted.

"LISTEN HERE YOU-"

Four pale figures floated out of the wall in front of them, their silvery translucent forms emerging from the stone that formed the castle. Ghosts, Harry realised, as his eyes were drawn to a particular ghost, a wide eyed gaunt figure that wore heavy chains that rattled with every movement of the ghost's body, his chain covered robes sullied by a large amount of silver stains. The young potter's eyes met the strange ghosts wide, unblinking eyes, zoning out what the other ghosts were saying as his attention was focused entirely on the blood stained remnant of a man long since dead.

With a blink of his eyes, the ghost was gone, vanishing from the hall, leaving the other ghosts in a state of shock, except for the lady, who seemed bored by the whole process and the afterlife in general.

"Dear Friar, I do believe that was the first time that's ever happened"

"It was indeed Nick, it was indeed"

Then, with a large creak of effort, the doors to the great hall opened up and the silence that had been filling the room evaporated without warning as the sounds of conversation and the barely contained excitement flooded into their ears, and as the group stepped forward, Harry grinned in excitement.

-TDR-

He was disappointed. Extremely disappointed. He had expected something grand, worthy of stories, but what he got was not what he expected. He got a hat, granted, it was a singing, talking hat, but an old worn hat nonetheless. He sighed in a display of his disappointment, and the girl next to him raised an eyebrow at him, her bright blue eyes staring at him, questioning evident in her eyes.

"It's a hat"

"Well, yes, what were you expecting?"

"Something more exciting I suppose, not a hat"

She giggled in amusement before catching herself and restraining herself to a small smile instead.

"Are you a muggleborn?"

"Perhaps. May I know your name?"

"Daphne Greengrass!"

"Ooh, that's me"

Harry smiled at her, watching as she sat upon the stool, hat covering her head and past her eyes. It was on her head for nearly half a minute, before shouting out her house.

"SLYTHERIN!"

He gave the girl a grin and nod of recognition while clapping gently as she quite calmly walked towards the table that seated members of her new house. After her sorting Harry tuned out again, not paying any attention to what happened, or who was sorted where. And then, it was his brother's turn, the heir of the Potter family striding up to the stool with a cockiness that was visible to everyone, and Harry could see his mother's old friend, Snape, glaring daggers at his brother, and gave a small smile at the scene. Ten minutes after the hat had gone on his brother's head with no result, the teachers had started getting nervous, and the students started whispering to themselves about what it could possibly mean, while Harry had started a mental chant to somewhat pass the time.

' _Please be Hufflepuff. Please be Hufflepuff. Please be Hufflepuff. Please be Hufflepuff. Please be Hufflepuff._ '

On and on his mental prayer went, and yet the hat, after fifteen minutes of deliberation, yelled out for his brother to be a lion. And with a sigh, Harry started moving forward to the stool before his name was called. Sitting on the stool, he lowered the hat onto his head himself, almost jumping at the voice that filled every space of his mind, rough sounds that made up a raspy voice rebounding off of his skull.

' _An old, worn hat am I?'_

' _Ahhh, sorry about that?'_

' _Not to worry child, I have heard much worse from others that disagreed with my sortings before'_

At that, Harry couldn't help but think of the disappointment he'd had when Charlus was decided as a Gryffindor.

' _At odds with your brother aye? You aren't the first and I'm certain you won't be the last in that regard. Now let's see here, where to put you, ambition, yes, you have lots of that, the drive to shake the heavens if need be. Pride, so much pride, but not like that of your brother, pride in your family, not in the name, unlike many purebloods.'_

' _The blood purists and their beliefs hold no place in my heart hat, you should know this.'_

' _Indeed I do, cunning little thing aren't you, I guess your wand has done my job for me. With your talent there's only one place to put you isn't there? Better be'_

"SLYTHERIN!"

And everyone in the great hall couldn't believe their ears, and there was silence.

-TDR-

Harry entered his private room, neighboured to Draco and some other first year named Blaise. Shutting the door with one hand, he fingered the green trim of his robe with the other. This was certainly an unexpected occurrence, a Potter in Slytherin. Potter's had always been a 'light' family and not a single one, save any individuals who had married into the Potter name, like his grandmother Dorea Black, had _ever_ been in Slytherin.

As he approached his bed he noticed a small figure of a coiled snake made of a strange green stone that sat next to a small rectangular piece of parchment upon his pillow. Picking up the snake and resting it in his palm, he gazed at the parchment and the words written in an elegant penmanship, silver ink shimmering in the green light cast by the emerald flames that lit up the room.

 _Follow his voice and he shall guide you._

 _You shall be his voice in this world._

AN: Another chapter down! This sorting may have been pretty obvious after the wand selection last chapter, but it was originally planned to be the one chapter but got split because I felt that it worked better as it is. So the first two years will be a lot more light hearted than later years, and with the third being a sort of changing phase that lies in between the two. But with that said, lemme know what you guys think and I'll catch you next time.


	4. Chapter 3

**Year One**

 **Chapter Three - Fallout, Classes and the Voice?**

Harry strode down an empty road, leather riding boots splashing in pools of liquid as he walked, eyes taking in the dilapidated houses and stores that lined the pavement, and as he blinked, bodies appeared, some in pristine condition, others torn apart, blood covering every surface in some way. Bodies hung from the walls of buildings, pinned by strange metal spikes, others hanging from street lamps by silver ropes strung around their necks, while others littered the road and pavement, and he looked down to see the liquid he had been walking in was blood. Dropping to his knees, he retched and threw up all over the street, bile mixing with blood, hands stained red with the blood of other people. He rose to his feet and stumbled over to a wall, looking at an oddly familiar bushy head of hair, though he couldn't quite place where he remembered seeing it.

He giggled madly, slowly descending into a cackling image of madness. And as he turned to look around him once more, he caught sight of his reflection in a window, saw the gleam of madness in his eyes, his normally serene smile twisted into a maniacal grin, his once clean clothes drenched in blood, hardly any of the white shirt remained, almost entirely dyed red with blood. And it was in that moment that he knew what he had done, and he screamed in anguish and pain.

Then he was being shaken, limbs flailing in terror, as he awoke from his nightmare, hands smacking into something hard, a grunt of pain from what he had hit.

"POTTER, CALM DOWN"

The words hit him like a sledgehammer, and he stilled, eyes darting around to help gain his bearings. He was in his private room, dimly lit by a few flickering green flames, and in the low light he saw two figures, one standing over him, hand on his shoulder while the other stood a meter back, hand on this head as he winced in pain. Draco and Blaise, he realised.

"What happened?"

"You should be telling us mate, we were just walking up the corridor when you started screaming, so we ran in here to see what was wrong, we managed to wake you up but you copped Zabini in the head. Why were you screaming?"

Nodding at Blaise, Harry spoke. "Just a nightmare, my apologies Zabini"

After receiving a nod in return Harry rose, stretching his muscles and yawning.

"Thank you both, but I'll be fine, please let me get dressed"

Both nodding in acquiescence, they exited his room, Draco pausing on the way out to say something.

"For what it's worth Potter, I'm sorry about what happened on the train, I didn't mean to do that"

Staring at the blonde, Harry weighed his options, and was silent for a moment before speaking.

"I'm not quite sure what you're talking about Malfoy, I don't remember anything happening on the express"

He was rewarded with a relieved smile, a proffered hand, and a casual, 'call me Draco', before the boy left, closing the door on the way out.

Harry exhaled, body sagging with the release of the tension that had been building up, as he slipped out of his pyjamas, pale skin covered in goosebumps from a mixture of the nightmare and the cool temperature. Trembling fingers struggled to effectively button up his shirt and fix his tie, and with a scream of frustration he lashed out with his fist, punching the stone wall of his room, not noticing the small spiderweb cracks that emerged from the point of impact. After gathering his bookbag, he left to hopefully not get lost in the labyrinth that was Hogwarts on the way to breakfast, though that would not be an issue if he'd had his father's map.

-TDR-

Breakfast had been uneventful for the most part, the few glares from his brother were dismissed in a casual manner, and he had a light conversation with Daphne before their timetables arrived. Now he was seated in the well lit and cheerful charms room, whispered conversations from his fellow Slytherins intermingling with the louder and more enthusiastic chatting of their Hufflepuff classmates. Their teacher, one Filius Flitwick, was currently standing on a pile of thick books that augmented his admittedly short stature, his enthusiastic grin was almost infectious in nature, and Harry had to struggle in order to maintain a straight face, and he partially failed at that, a small rise of the corner of his lips giving him away.

"Good morning class! Welcome to your first year of charms, here you will learn all about a variety of charms, some can be used in simply keeping a house in order, or for those who are more creative, in a combat environment, though I hope none of you _need_ to do so. Now, who can tell me just what a charm is?"

Silence met his question, his squeaky voice left a void in its wake, students looking around in confusion at the question, surely he didn't expect an answer about the nature of the very topic of their class in the first lesson.

"Surely one of you know, I see many purebloods here, none of you were taught about charm theory at home? Not even the basics?"

Harry raised his arm, garnering the attention of the class as a whole as he did, sitting in the front as he was.

"Mr Potter?"

"From what my mother has discussed with me I would describe a charm as anything that affects another object or space, with the purpose of changing or adding a particular feature, often with a variety of uses."

"Could you give an example of this description in action?"

"The patronus charm, while often touted as a defense spell, is a charm in that it causes an ethereal form, representative of an aspect of the caster, to occupy a space in the real world, often causing happy emotions in those that remain nearby, and it is this byproduct that causes it to be used against creatures such as dementors and lethifolds, not because it is a defensive spell."

The charms professor beamed at him in open joy, clapping gently at his explanation.

"Excellent Mr Potter, your mother does her mastery service and if you have half her talent then you will do well in this class. Take ten points for Slytherin."

Harry gave a small smile, and took notes as his teacher continued to lecture the class on basic charm theory, and the distinction between the different types of charms. All in all, it was a fun and enjoyable lesson, which was more than he could say for some of his other classes.

Defence had been an interesting subject to say the least, he could barely focus between the professor's horrible stutter, the cloying stench of garlic that permeated the room, and the deathly glare of his older brother. The only way he had survived had been to fall into the void he discovered when Malfoy had accosted him on the train, the small flame flickering in his imagination a burning tongue of emerald, surrounded by a black void of nothingness. His senses slightly enhanced, and he could feel _something_ in the back of his mind when he slipped into the void, but he couldn't place the feeling.

Potions was more enjoyable, spending the lesson reviewing the years overview, what potions they would be brewing and basic safety precautions. Harry was upset that he had not been able to witness Snape tear his arrogant brother a new one, probably for the best though, as snape seemed to be giving him an odd stare whenever he could, a strange mixture of apprehension and disdain. But strange looks aside, the class was the most productive, charms had easily taken the place of most enjoyable so far. Only time would tell how the other subjects would go, with Herbology, History, Astronomy and Transfiguration yet to come.

-TDR-

Harry wandered the castle, no real destination in mind, fingers rolling the strange coiled snake around his palm, as he strode along the fourth floor, following where his feet led. His body tensing at a strange voice filling his ears, and resounding through his head, filling his body with the vibrations that accompanied the sibilant whisper.

 _§Come to me, blood of my blood§_

His mind shot instantly to the strange note he had found on his bed, laying next to the snake figure he held even now.

 _Follow his voice and he shall guide you._

 _§And where would I be going exactly?§_

The voice was silent for but a moment, and when it returned, it seemed agitated, almost angry in its whispered voice.

 _§I do not know. The castle moves me, seeks to hide me from the world. It could not destroy me, I am a part of it, as much as it is a part of me. I only know that there is a room in the castle, a creation of Rowena, it alone can remain an ever changing constant in the castle. Designed that way so that while its surroundings may change or remain the same, it does not vary from it's original. This room will take you to me, or me to you. It was complicated magic, far beyond my understanding, though that was oft the case with Rowena, wit beyond measure indeed.§_

 _§If you are being moved, how can I hear you as if you were next to me?§_

 _§A little invention of mine, no matter my location in the castle, I can tap into the pipes and project my words as if I was there next to you, it made it quite easy to summon people. And before you ask, I am a part of the school itself, more so than the headmaster, I am able to hear what it hears, see what it sees. So I know, even now that you carry my token, keep it close at hand, always, for it will help you in ways you do not understand, not yet at least.§_

 _§Could I be able to do the same?§_

 _§Not yet, blood of my blood. You will, once you wear my ring, but to do that, you must pass a test.§_

 _§What test?§_

 _§I cannot say. It varies from person to person from what I am told.§_

 _§Very well. I will find you, and I will get my answers.§_

 _§As you wish, blood of my blood.§_

And with a final whispered hiss, the voice left, and Harry stumbled to the wall, body drenched in sweat, red hair matted by the liquid that streamed from his head, and, after taking a wobbly step, he collapsed, eyes rolling up in his head.

-TDR-

The hospital wing was very clinical, Harry realised, in the brief period of time he spent conscious there he watched the mediwitch bustle about from patient to patient at regular intervals, never spending more time than was necessary with a patient and never a shorter time than a minute.

She moved towards him, a tray of potions floating behind her. Casting a diagnostic charm on him, she sighed in exasperation.

"So Mr Potter, you were brought here a few hours ago by Professor Snape, completely drenched in sweat, shivering, and suffering from severe fatigue but yet had no sign of any physical exertion other than the standard strain you see from children walking around the castle a lot. Any reason you can think of for this?"

Her eyes bored into his, almost as if she were trying to stare an answer out of him. His mind flashed quickly to the voice in the hallway, the strain he felt from keeping himself in the void, and shook his head slowly.

"Not really ma'am. I was just exploring the castle when I collapsed, I'm not sure why it happened honestly."

She hummed at that, her eyes narrowing at him as if in suspicion but she quickly relented, fetching a potion from the tray behind her, pouring it into a small cup and handing it to him. Seeing his questioning gaze she answered the unasked question.

"Half a standard dose of Pepper-Up, enough to get you back on your feet quickly but not cause any strain as a result, can't have you collapsing again after leaving my care now can we."

His small smile gave way to a grimace as he downed the potion, his body shuddering at the taste, not that it tasted bad per se, but it left a strange aftertaste in his mouth. And his complaint was interrupted before it left his mouth, the doors to the medical wing swinging open with a tiny squeal of rusted hinges, the figure of his brother being revealed to all in the infirmary.

"Couldn't even last a whole day before ending up in here huh? Mom is gonna freak, good work."

"What do you want Charlus?"

"Can't I come and visit my dearest brother in his time of need?"

"I hardly _need_ you of all people"

"That hurts brother, it truly does"

 _§Kill him, blood of my blood. He vexes me§_

Harry's eye twitched at the voice, bloodlust flooding through his veins, and he shoved all the emotions into the flame, calmly embracing the void as a surge of power filled the room.

"What are you doing Harry?!"

Harry smiled at his brother, eyes crinkling in faux happiness.

"Doing? I'm not doing anything _brother_."

"Yes you are, stop it!"

Harry sighed, and the action freed some of his magic from his tight leash on it. And with a sizzling crack, a small arc of electricity arced from his fingertips, small particles of charged energy flying away from him.

Charlus' eyes were widened in fear, his body shaking and leaning quite obviously away from Harry.

"Leave Charlus, I have no time for your games. Not now."

As his brother fled from the infirmary Harry glanced down at his fingers in shock, stray tendrils of eldritch energy unraveling from his fingertips, and the small snake in his other hand, it's emerald eyes glowing with arcane light.

AN: Hey guys, Arhan here! This chapter just goes through a brief overview of Harry's first few lessons, his first contact with the voice, and his first bit of unconscious channeling. So a few firsts there. Next chapter will have a bit of a timeskip, so we won't see the first transfiguration lesson, or astronomy, herbology and history. Not too sure about this chapter, but lemme know what you guys think!

Also, I'll mostly be responding to comments with questions over PM, unless a few people ask the same question which will then be answered in the next chapter I post. Cheers.


	5. Chapter 4

**Year One**

 **Chapter 4- Progress**

Harry sat in silence, suffering the glare of the Hogwarts librarian, Irma Pince as they awaited the arrival of the vaunted headmaster of the school, Albus Dumbledore, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and defeater of the infamous Gellert Grindelwald. The only movements Harry mad was the slight rise and fall of his chest as he continued to take deep measured breaths, he had been an idiot, thinking that there was no surveillance, but he had made a mistake, and now he was to pay for it.

A small cough broke through his thoughts, slate grey eyes were drawn to the twinkling blue that were the enigmatic and wise eyes of the strongest wizard since Merlin.

"Good evening Mr Potter, although, it is a tad late to be saying that now no?"

The eccentric man wasn't wrong, Harry thought, given that it was now one in the morning.

"I dare say so, headmaster"

"Mind telling me what you were doing in the restricted section tonight my boy?"

"Of course not headmaster, I was simply searching for something, it was not in the normal section and the majority of books that may cover it are in the restricted section."

Dumbledore's eyes narrowed, eyebrows scrunching in thought as he pondered Harry's answer.

"And what exactly where you looking for my boy?"

"History, specifically around the time of the four founders, and in regards to their contributions to Hogwarts."

Dumbledore's sigh of relief was so slight it almost went unnoticed by Harry. _Almost._

"Well, I do suppose that's not the worst thing in the world" he mused out loud "however, I cannot condone breaking into the restricted section, or being out past curfew during school hours, so while I can admire your quest for knowledge, that will be thirty points from Slytherin and a night of detention next week with Mr Filch. Do you understand why I must do this Harry?"

"Of course headmaster"

"However, you are not the first to ask after that particular knowledge, I myself had an enlightening time reading through the book you seek. May I ask what in particular you were hoping to find?"

Harry looked warily at Dumbledore, the man's charming nature seemed slightly off putting, a part of his mind screamed at him not to trust the man, and he settled for a point in between the two extremes.

"Nothing much sir, just some interest in the founders is all, I want to understand them."

"An interesting pursuit my boy, I myself was more interested in their artifacts myself, I'm sure you know of my more than passing interest in enchanting and alchemy"

"Of course professor"

"Come Harry, I shall accompany you back to your dorms, even Hogwarts can be a harsh place at night and it is always best to be careful."

They travelled along the stone veins of the castle in silence until Dumbledore started humming a tune Harry didn't recognise, and it was only at the entrance of the Slytherin common room that Dumbledore spoke again, his cheery voice ringing off the stone walls.

"Well, Harry my boy, this is where we shall part ways for now, I hope to see you again soon. Hopefully not due to any nighttime forays of course."

"Of course, goodnight sir."

"Goodnight my boy"

-TDR-

 _§Wake child, it is daybreak, and a house elf has visited your room§_

Harry groaned in annoyance, sleepily waving away the voice's command, and continued to lay in bed.

 _§I. Said._ _ **Wake**_ _.§_

At the final word, Harry's eyes snapped open, all traces of exhaustion lifted from him as he was filled with a strange energy.

 _§How do you do that? You're a voice.§_

 _§A voice I may be, blood of my blood, but parseltongue is a inherently magical language and even simple commands will alter the world according to the user's will. You would know this if you bothered to research your ability.§_

 _§Yes that would go_ so _well, I can just see the headlines now. 'Brother of the Boy-Who-Lived Researches Dark Magic! Will He Become a Dark Lord?'§_

 _§Why care about it? They are not you, you are above them, just as I was above my peers all those centuries ago.§_

 _§And yet, they defeated you together, you may have been stronger, but not by enough to negate their strength together, and I am not strong enough to defeat wizarding Britain, not yet at least.§_

 _§Very well. What did the elf deliver to you?§_

Harry blinked in surprise at the reminder, he had forgotten that the voice had mentioned a house elf having visited his room. He looked around his room for anything that was different, and his eyes spotted a parcel laying on the small desk he used to do his homework. It was a fairly nondescript wrapping, with small ties holding it together, with a note atop the paper.

' _Do ask next time, a gift from me to you - APWBD'_

Harry grinned in joy, he had not failed after all, excellent.

 _§What is it, blood of my blood?§_

 _§Your history, if I am correct§_

 _§Really?§_

Tearing off the wrapping, Harry grinned ferally at the title.

 _Hogwarts: The Castle and Its Founders, First Edition_

 _§Really§_

-TDR-

Harry had stayed in the comfort of his room for the weekend, leaving only for meals and to be seen so as not to worry others, not that he really cared, but it would have been a slight inconvenience were any issues to arise from his absence. Locked behind a parseltongue keyed door, he read through the book Dumbledore had gifted him, devouring the pages that held information on both his house's founder and that of Rowena Ravenclaw herself, pages of notes lay scattered around him, and littered among them were hand drawn sketches of the castle itselfs, maps of each floor drawn from his ever improving memory, an improvement, he noted, that had started with his use of the flame and the void, but he had yet to fully explore that ability, though he suspected it may be somewhat related to the study of occlumency that many strong wizards undertook.

Over the weekend he had managed to narrow his field of search for Rowena's Room to the upper levels of the classroom, but other than that, he had effectively hit a brick wall in his efforts. Growling in frustration he nearly threw the book across the room, only stopped by the voice he was quickly becoming fond of interrupting him.

 _§Someone is at your door, blood of my blood.§_

Harry's eyes narrowed slightly at that, his voice emerging as a hiss in response.

 _§Who is it?§_

 _§I am not sure, I pay no heed to the other students, they are not you. But I can say they are female, and blonde, outside of that, I know nothing.§_

 _§Thank you, blood of my blood.§_

It was strange, Harry mused as he went to open the door, voice hissing out the parseltongue translation for unlock, that he had started speaking in the same way the voice had, although with a voice that no one else could hear as one of your only companions it was bound to happen eventually.

Upon reaching the door, he twisted the handle and pulled the barrier that stood between him and the rest of the castle open, revealing his normally clean and orderly appearance, now ruffled and dishevelled, to whoever was outside, though he had his suspicions as to who his visitor may be. Looking into the corridor, he nodded in greeting at the individual standing in front of him.

"Ah, heiress Greengrass, good evening, may I ask why you have visited me in my humble abode?"

His voice was rough from the few days speaking in only parseltongue, and it came out in a mangled semi hissed rasp. And her eyebrow raised once he had finished speaking, his greeting fading into a silence that dragged on, almost to an awkward level.

"Potter, it has been nearly a month since you last spoke to me, and now you've locked yourself in your room for the weekend, not bothering to clean up your appearance as befits the Ancient and Noble House of Potter. It is time this finished, go get showered and dressed, I'll be waiting outside, you have half an hour."

"Bu-"

"Go"

His head dropped acquiescence as he sighed, his body sagging as he gave in to Daphne's demands, shuffling to his built in bathroom, kicking the door shut behind him and locking it once again with a hiss of parseltongue.

With only minutes to spare in his half hour timer, Harry emerged from his room, looking as impeccably dressed as he usually did, red hair brushed to frame his face somewhat, clean black school robes trimmed in emerald clinging to his form. Arching an eyebrow at Daphne he raised his arms out by his sides, staring at her as he spoke out in a bored drawl.

"Happy now, Miss Greengrass?"

"Incredibly, now get moving"

Her sarcastic tone wasn't doing much for Harry, who was becoming more irritated by the second, and he spoke up yet again.

"I don't even know where we're going though?"

"The great hall. Now. Get. Moving"

"Yes ma'am"

And with that final response and a quick salute, he started moving towards the room that students and staff alike ate in, smirking at the growl that escaped the blonde girl's mouth in anger.

-TDR-

Harry had been quite surprised upon entering the Hogwarts Kitchens, to say the least, the high ceilinged room with a table layout exactly the same as that of the great hall above them, was bustling with a large number of house elves, their small frames scampering across the floor, some scrubbing pots while others sat in front of a large fireplace.

"How did you find this?"

Daphne sniffed at his question, voice taking on an imperious tone, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It's not uncommon for students to find the kitchens during their time at Hogwarts, but I just asked my parents, they were more than happy to tell me. Dipsy!"

A smaller than normal elf appeared in front of the two students, her bulbous blue eyes sticking somewhat comically out of her head, bat-like ears flopping around in excitement.

"Mistress Greenygrass! How can Dipsy be helping yous?"

Daphne smiled at the young elf, her eyes softening from their ice like nature as she looked down in happiness at the excitable house elf.

"Just a small meal for the two of us please Dipsy, and some butterbeer for us as well."

"Of course Mistress Greenygrass! Dipsy will be doing straight away."

As the little elf scurried away to complete the request, Harry let out a small chuckle at Daphne's expense.

"Mistress Greenygrass?"

"Shut up Potter, I wouldn't be surprised if they come up with an equally ridiculous name for you, then I'll be the one laughing at you"

"If you say so Mistress Greenygrass" he replied, eyes twinkling in amusement similarly to the headmaster's on occasion, and he was rewarded with an unenthusiastic punch to the arm and a muttered expletive aimed at him.

After a few minutes of being subjected to Daphne's glare of impending doom, they were seated at the table that corresponded with the placement of the Slytherin table in the great hall above them, bowls of rice and chicken placed in front of them, along with a bottle of butterbeer each.

"So, Miss Greengrass, what are your goals in life? What motivates you?"

His eyes locked onto hers, icy blue meeting slate gray, twin circles of hard colour meeting as they stared at each other, and with a small shake of her head, Daphne answered.

"I want to become Minister of Magic"

Harry's eyes widened, that was a lofty goal, although, he mused, based on her current performance in class, she was certainly well on the way there, with most results from homework and in class tests graded with an Outstanding. Compared to his subpar practical results, and above average theoretical marks, she was well above him.

"Any particular reason?"

"This world is broken, and I intend to fix it, becoming Minister will just help with that, and if necessary I can always take a different route."

"Like what?"

She fixed him with an icy stare, as if testing his mettle by trying to stare into his soul, blue eyes shining with an intensity that could freeze the hottest of fires just by looking at them.

"I'll beat the changes into the system, I'll raise an army and force them to agree."

"Voldemort already tried that, as did Grindelwald, what makes you think you could succeed where they failed? Do you consider yourself better than them? Or just smarter? More magically talented? What's your plan?"

His words brought a quizzical expression to her face, as if she had only realised that others had tried and failed to do what she was speaking of.

"I'll form a political bloc to support my movement before I act, gather a group of well trained individuals, conduct guerilla strikes and put my enemies on the back foot, and while they are reeling I'll push through laws that will seemingly help the situation, but are just laws that will fix the issues present in this world."

Harry hummed in thought, it was similar to Voldemort in the basic foundations, but he hadn't had a solid political movement behind him, not truly. Yes he'd had the Malfoys, Notts, Parkinsons, and a variety of other dark aligned houses in his pocket, but his efforts had been stunted by the rise of Dumbledore's militia and the few gray houses that didn't agree with the Dark Lord's views.

"That could work, as long as you don't screw up. But that begs the question, why tell me any of this? You do know who my parents are and who they acquaint themselves with yes?"

"Of course I know, I'm not an idiot so don't take me for one. I'm telling you because I need allies, your brother, while being Heir Potter and carrying the prestige of the Boy-Who-Lived, is arrogant and self serving above all else, you're by far the more sensible brother and if nothing else you will be Lord Potter if anything were to happen to Charlus, which is always an option."

Harry stiffened at that, eyes burning in rage as he quickly slipped into the void, emerald flame flickering rapidly in his mind, the comfort of the void wrapping around him better than any article of clothing, the unique feeling enveloping him as he planted his hands on the table, voice coming out in a harsh whisper.

"Don't you dare! I may not like my brother very much, but he is family, and if you think I will ever condone a course of action that will harm my family you have picked the wrong person!"

His glare accompanied his words, freezing the girl, who would one day become known as the Ice Queen of Slytherin, in place her body stiff with tension as a strange feeling enveloped the Hogwarts Kitchen, the house elves dropping into the fetal position as they whimpered and covered their eyes at the unknown force.

Daphne struggled to choke out a few words, the force was suffocating in its intensity, the strange energy making even drawing a breath a colossal effort on her part.

"Harry, please. I- I'm so- I'm sorry. Please."

Harry stared into her eyes, once icy blue now softened by unshed tears, and he released his grip on the void, the cold of the room lessening as he did so, slowly returning to normal levels. And as Daphne slowly regained her breath, he stood from his seat, casting his eyes around the kitchen, taking in the view of the now kneeling house elves, their small forms hunched over as they bowed their heads in his direction, muttering the word dragon over and over. He turned to look at his female companion once more, speaking one final line in a tone colder than glaciers as he strode to the exit, and subsequently, towards the dungeons once more.

"Best of luck, Heiress Greengrass."

-TDR-

Once he reached the safety of his private room, his anger exploded, raging out of the void as he threw things all across the room. Nothing was spared from his rage as he tossed books, leafs of parchment, his trunk and his bedside table, the objects slamming into each other and the walls of his room in his anger.

Harry collapsed on his bed, tears streaming from his eyes, as he went over the events of the evening in his head, and how he had almost attacked the closest thing he had to a friend over his ass of a brother of all things. And as he wept, a silent observer watched, unable to comfort the child that he had grown fond of over his time at Hogwarts, and cursed the castle for hiding him away.

' _Find me soon, blood of my blood.'_

-TDR-

AN: Hey guys! Thanks for reading once again, sorry about the slightly delayed update, I planned to have this chapter out last week but I didn't have access to a pc to type it up for a few days unfortunately. But here it is, the fourth proper chapter in The Dragon Reborn.

I imagine that this story will be covering up to the third year of the timeline, just trying to figure out how I want it to go in the later half of this part of the story at the moment, so it's subject to change later one. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the somewhat late chapter, Arhan out.


	6. Chapter 5

**Year One**

 **Chapter 5- Reflections and a New Friend**

It had been a few weeks since Harry's meeting with Daphne, a meeting that resulted in him storming out of the kitchens, leaving behind a stunned room of elves and a gasping blonde, and he now found himself wandering the castle once more, in the general area of the school's library, an area of the castle that contained a multitude of unused classrooms, mixed with a number of classrooms reserved for NEWT and OWL student use in both studies and tests.

He slowly strode down the corridor he was in, hand trailing along the wall, running across the stone of the castle and the wood of the occasional door, before he eventually came to a stop at a door that was open by the tiniest of margins, and upon pushing it open further, he was able to see the room it led to.

It appeared to be a standard unused classroom, one of many that littered the halls of the old castle. It's furniture stacked by the walls, a slight layer of dust covering everything except for a small circle in the center of the room, the dust free area encircled a large mirror, its frame a stunning gold, engraved with some strange words, and clawed feet that held it off the floor slightly. Harry stepped into the classroom, walking along dust covered stones until he reached the mirror, taking in its unnatural beauty.

" _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi"_ he muttered, fingers tracing the strange words as he read them aloud, before stepping back and looking into the mirror, gasping out in shock as he did.

In it he saw the man he saw in his visions, and older version of himself, he realised, but this one was not cackling in madness, his clothes immaculate as normal, his hair framing his face in waves of red, slightly longer than his hair now, topped by a crown of gold leaves. His face was covered in a slight layer of stubble, not a beard, but just enough to darken his lower face a fraction.

His features were still pale, unlike the tanned man that stood behind him, the bald man had a hand on his shoulder, a small smile on his ancient features, and with a start, Harry realised just who was in the mirror with him.

"Salazar Slytherin"

His whispered words caused the ethereal reflection to nod his head, pointed beard moving with his head, drawing the student's attention to the locket that hung on a chain around his neck, emblazoned with a snake in the form of a stylised S. Continuing his examination of his older self, he took in the sight of a strange sword, that looked to be made of crystal, in the grip of his reflection, point embedded in the floor, hands resting atop it, and the slight colouration around his wrists, a strange combination of emerald and silver, a tattoo perhaps?

He noticed a ring on the reflections hand, a silver band, that looked to be a snake, wrapped around a finger, its jaws opened wide to hold an emerald. He couldn't place where he knew the items from, just that they felt familiar to him, as if they were a part of him, they called for him to come to them, and even through the barrier of the mirror, he could feel the power that radiated off the items.

He reached a hand out to touch the mirror, it's pull too strong for him to resist, the tantalising whispers of the promise of power drawing him in. Tendrils of energy slithering towards him as he got closer to the mirror, but as he was but seconds away from making contact with the artifact, a wrinkled hand grabbed his wrist in a firm grip. Spinning towards the person that held him, fist raised, Harry was stunned to see the headmaster standing beside him and peering into his eyes as if seeing through him, looking past his slate irises and into his very soul. Shuddering at the odd feeling, Harry broke eye contact with the venerable wizard, and the feeling retreated instantly, whatever link had been forming was shattered as he did so.

"Harry my boy, out for another adventure I see."

"Yes sir, sorry sir."

"Fear not Harry, no points shall be taken today, nor any detentions awarded, it was my oversight that allowed this to happen after all."

"What do you mean sir?"

"Ahh, I have been studying this mirror, curious as it is, in order to change how it works somewhat, and in a slight oversight I appear to have left the door unlocked as I left for lunch and a small break from my studies."

The headmaster's bright blue eyes twinkled in the perpetual joy that he seemed to radiate, and Harry averted his eyes, a small part of his mind urging him away from maintaining eye contact.

"May I ask what it is you see Harry?"

Harry was silent for a long moment at the question, thinking about what he should say to the headmaster, a dull throb in his head sharpening with every thought of speaking the truth.

"I see my parents behind me, they're proud of me, and I'm wearing the Head Boy badge sir."

The old wizard smiled benevolently at the young Slytherin, blue eyes crinkling as he did so.

"A happy sight indeed my boy, and I hope that it becomes reality, now, off you trot, I must be back to working on it, and I must ask that you do not come looking for the mirror again, it will soon be moved, and it does not do to dwell on dreams."

"Of course sir, but may I ask, what do you see when you look in the mirror?"

Having turned to leave, Harry was unable to see the brief flash of pain that crossed Dumbledore's face, and he waited at the door for a reply.

"I myself see a thick pair of woolly socks."

"Woolly socks sir?"

"Indeed my boy, one can never have enough thick socks, don't you agree?"

"Of course sir, goodbye sir."

"Goodbye Harry."

With that, Harry exited the room, the image of what the mirror had shown him burned into his mind as he pondered the meaning of what he had seen.

' _What does it all mean?'_

-TDR-

He was bathed in darkness, no light to illuminate the area around him, and muted voices spoke around him, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't make out what they were saying. His body was cramped, aches and pains covered him from head to toe and he could feel something pressing in on his body and on his mind, the pressure was uncomfortable but not to the point of pain. He wasn't sure how long he was in the darkness, but it seemed to go on for an age, and as light flooded the darkness, he gasped out, breathing deeply, and then he woke up.

His body was drenched in sweat, the covers soaked as a result, fumbling for his wand, Harry mumbled out the word _tempus_ as he gave a lazy wave of his focus, and a weak glimmer arranged itself into the time, and Harry groaned in a rare display of irritation at what it showed.

 _5:13 AM_

"Damnitt"

He grumbled under his breath as he stumbled out of bed and into the adjoining shower and toilet, emerald flames flaring into a dim existence as he gave his wand another wave, the room being illuminated enough to see, but not enough to irritate his eyes as most bright lights did after sleeping, and provided a slight relief against the suddenly constricting darkness.

Shuffling over to the shower, Harry undressed before stepping under the showerhead and running the water, fingers scrubbing at his face as the cool liquid drenched his body in its chill, the cool weather not helping the temperature, but it provided a sharp wake up for the still tired child. After a few minutes the water warmed, the heating charms coming into effect as he started to wash off the sweat after the nights dream. Few dreams that he had were as intense as that, and not even a fraction as draining mentally. He often dreamt of fantastical adventures, and large creatures that would plague the nightmares of many an adult, but they always held a barrier between him and the events, this was startling in its clarity, and he still felt echoes of the pressure that had ensconced his mind and body.

Letting the warm water wash the soap from him, Harry sighed out as he braced his arms against the stone wall of the castle for a minute before turning the water off and drying himself off. Wrapping the towel around his waist, he thought for a moment before calling out.

"Dipsy!"

A pop sounded in the bathroom as the tiny elf appeared in the usual fashion of house elves.

"What can Dipsys be doing for you Mister Potty?"

Her already large eyes widened further as she took in the sight before her, the half naked student chuckling at both her reaction and the name she had given him, Daphne was right about the whole name issue if nothing else.

"I was just wondering if you could start to prepare a meal for me in the kitchens please? I'll be down as soon as I'm dressed."

"Of course Mister Potty! Dipsy is happy to serve, but Mister Potty should really be getting dressed before calling Dipsy."

"My apologies Dipsy, I wasn't thinking, I won't do it again, I promise."

His soft smile was returned with a glare and the diminutive creature's scowling face.

"That be what you said last time, and the time before that!"

He simply smiled harder at her when she said that, and gave a small shrug.

"Oops?"

The elf popped away without a word, and Harry gave another chuckle at her action.

 _§You're an idiot§_

 _§Shut up§_

-TDR-

After a fairly lengthy breakfast down in the Hogwarts kitchens, Harry continued to search for Rowena's room, which, according to a footnote in the book, had been coined the Room of Requirement, due to its unique properties of being able to conjure items the user needs, as well as resize itself. While it noted that things could not be taken from the room if they were made in it, they could if they already existed. What the book did not have, however, was the location of the room, which infuriated the young Slytherin to no end.

After an hour and a half of pointless searching, Harry realised it was time for his first class of the day, and with a muttered curse at his inability to find the room, he trudged off to Defence Against the Dark Arts, and his utterly incompetent teacher.

Upon reaching the classroom, Harry was accosted by his brother, whose hand had grabbed the front of his robes and dragged him closer.

"What do you want Charlus?"

Harry's bored tone seemed to only irritate his older sibling, who pushed him back with a disgusted look on his face.

"I don't _want_ anything, our mother does however."

"Mum? What about her?"

"She's worried about you, being stuck with all those snakes, and all the other death eaters in training. She told me to keep an eye on you, god only knows what she would do if something happened to her _favourite child_."

The last sentence had almost been spat out, and Harry could see the anger in his brother's eyes.

"Well brother, thank you for your _care_ , but I'm fine, and I will let our mother know as such, but in the meantime, do keep your hands off me."

And with that he brushed off the hand that still lightly held his robes and continued into the classroom, but his brother had to get the last word in, as always.

"I knew you'd be a Slytherin, just waiting to go bad aren't you? You disgust me Harry!"

Quirrell's lesson for the day involved an extreme focus on the characteristics of trolls, their physiology and defence against them, this confused a fair few of the students as trolls weren't to be covered until the end of the year, but they shrugged it off as just another quirk of their defence teacher, and Harry was inclined to agree with them.

"A-a-and as yo-you can s-s-see, trolls are par-particularly r-r-resistant to magic o-of a-a-all t-types, this i-i-is due t-t-to their s-s-skin. W-when f-f-fighting a t-troll, if you c-c-can't esc-escape, it is b-b-best to u-use a ph-ph-physical weapon c-c-capable of cut-cutting th-th-through the troll's s-s-skin, or c-c-causing in-internal d-d-damage. Your h-h-homework will b-b-be f-five in-inches on th-th-the char-characteristics of a t-t-troll, and an-another five o-on how to esc-escape one, d-due next l-lesson. C-c-class dismissed."

With his lecture finished, the class scrambled to leave, but as he was about to walk through the door he was stopped by his teacher.

"Ah, M-mister P-p-potter, a w-word please?"

Looking around to see that Charlus had already left and that Quirrell could only have been talking to him he turned to face the turban wearing professor.

"Yes sir?"

"Ah, I man-managed t-t-to over-overhear you an-and your b-b-brother before class. I w-w-was w-wondering if ev-everything was o-okay?"

"Oh, yes sir, it's quite fine, Charlus and I have never quite gotten on is all."

"I s-see, well i-if th-there's anything I can d-d-do, d-don't h-hesitate to a-ask Mister P-potter."

"Of course sir, thank you for the offer, I'll be sure to take you up on it if need be. I'd best be off, I have a class to get to after all."

"O-of c-c-course Mister P-potter, g-g-good d-day."

And with a small wave goodbye, which the professor returned, Harry turned and left the room, followed by Quirell's sharp eyes.

-TDR-

The next day was extreme in its colouring, the normal black, silver and green of the Slytherin common room and dorms was replaced by bright orange, flames, banners and decorations were all replaced in colour. Halloween. Harry groaned, he would no doubt be interrupted in his search for the Room of Requirement once again to partake in the festivities of a day that meant nothing to him. Harry held no doubts however, that Charlus would be soaking up all the worship from the student body like it was what sustained him.

After quickly showering and getting dressing, Harry picked up the letter he had written for his mother and sister, which he realised with a substantial amount of guilt, that was the first he would send back home after arriving at Hogwarts, so it was a fairly lengthy letter. Exiting the common room in order to head to the owlery, Harry passed the Malfoy heir, giving him a small nod of acknowledgement which the blonde returned.

His relationship with his fellow Slytherin was an odd one, they certainly weren't friends by any stretch of the imagination, but they had an odd sort of agreement. The I won't bother you if you don't bother me sort. And they managed to get on well enough as a result. Harry did, however, pointedly ignore Daphne as he swept past her, her mouth opening slightly before she shut it with an audible click, and Harry managed to catch Draco speaking as he left the common room.

"What's with you and Potter, Greengrass?"

He was unable to hear her response as the door closed behind him, and he shook the thought from his head as he continued on his way up to the owlery.

It was after that day's lesson of Transfiguration that something truly odd happened to Harry. He was making his way from McGonagall's classroom to the kitchens for a light snack before heading to the library to study when he was bowled over and tangled with another person while turning the corner, his usually graceful form being thrown out the window as he dropped under the weight of another person, arms flailing in a failed attempt to stave off the inevitable fall.

The pair of students fell to the floor with a loud thud, followed closely by a pair of pained groans, and a very feminine gasp of surprise. Blinking in surprise, Harry looked at the individual who had run headfirst into him only to see a bushy head of hair that looked extremely familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on where exactly. After another moment, Harry realised the girl was sobbing into his robe and repeatedly apologising.

"I get that you're sorry and all, but could you please let me up, the stones aren't exactly comfortable."

"Oh! I'm so sorry!"

The girl scrambled off of him, her bushy hair flying around as she almost fell again in her hurry to get off Harry. Groaning in effort as he rose, Harry steadied himself on the wall and looked at the human cannonball that had charged headfirst into him.

"You're Hermione right? Hermione Granger?"

The young Gryffindor looked at him closely, eyes squinting in concentration, before shaking her head.

"Yes I am, I'm sorry, have we met before?"

"We have. I'm Harry Potter, we met on the Hogwarts Express."

Her mouth transformed into an oh shape as a look of recognition flashed across her face before she let out a small sniffle and wiped the tear tracks off her face and her slightly puffed up eyes.

"Is everything okay Miss Granger?"

"N-not really"

She managed to sob out the two words before collapsing into a fresh round of tears, flinging herself into the gobsmacked Slytherin's arms and letting the waterworks soak into his cloak.

"You want to talk about it?"

The only response he got was a slight shake of her head and the shedding of even more tears, giving an internal sigh, Harry led her towards the nearest bathroom, intent on letting her clean up a little while also trying to pry just what happened out of the young muggleborn.

Harry's eye had developed a twitch over the course of the past few hours listening to a sobbing girl who managed to get about a word out every minute because she was too busy crying. Luckily for him, a seventh year Hufflepuff with bright pink hair had walked into the bathroom and forced him to leave, some Tonks or something rather.

"-made her go running off crying like a baby!"

Rounding the corner to the main entrance only to hear his brother boasting about making a girl cry to a group of giggling girls and chuckling boys, Harry schooled his features before confronting the group.

"And who would this most deserving person be, oh brother of mine?"

"That uppity know it all Granger of course. Who does she think she is, trying to outdo the real wizards and witches in this school?"

"Ahh I see, trying to maintain the status quo are you? How positively...Slytherin of you."

Harry almost lost his composure at the mix of emotions that played out on his brother's face, the rage mixed with indignation was an extremely amusing combo, and not a very attractive one at that. He did, however, pause as he took in just who his brother was surrounding himself with. It was a group of students ranging from first years all the way to third years, and Harry cursed himself for missing that fact, he was completely outmatched if it came to a wizard style of confrontation.

"How dare you?! You-you slimy git of a brother!"

Charlus' strangled words were immediately followed by the drawing of wands, first by the Boy-Who-Lived, and then by those who stood behind him, and then finally by Harry, who was starting to sweat slightly at what he was facing, not that he gave any outward sign of what he was thinking. That wouldn't be very Slytherin of him after all.

Readying his wand as the Gryffindors opposite him did the same, Harry's mind raced, the tactic he had used against the Malfoy heir on the Express wouldn't work in his favour here, there was too many people and only one of him. His palms moistened as he realised how desperate his situation was, he had jumped headfirst into a confrontation he had no chance of coming out on top of. With a small mental chuckle Harry realised something.

' _Jumping into a situation like that, what a Gryffindor thing to do'_

He was saved from his thoughts by someone he most certainly did not expect to appear.

"Well well, what do we have here?"

The slow and condescending drawl was as iconic as the owner's platinum blonde hair and aristocratic features. Harry was never happier to see Draco than at that point in time, and he very quickly realised that the Malfoy heir was not alone to support him. The blonde, flanked by his usual stooges Crabbe and Goyle, was also supported by the seven members of the Slytherin quidditch team, most notably the captain, Marcus Flint who looked like he'd had his face smacked repeatedly by a troll for being too ugly even by troll standards. The team plus Malfoy and co all had their wands drawn as they fell in behind Harry.

"Nothing to involve yourself in _Malfoy_ " Charlus spat the blonde's name with so much venom Harry was surprised that there wasn't any actual venom flying from his mouth. "Just having a little discussion about that mudblood Granger"

Silenced reigned as everyone, Slytherin and Gryffindor students alike stared at the Wizarding World's Saviour, and he blanched when he realised what he had said.

"I didn't mean-"

"Didn't mean what, Mister Potter?"

Charlus' already paled face became even paler, if such a thing was possible, when he heard the cold Scottish voice cut through what he was about to say. He whirled around, fumbling to put his wand away as he met the stern face of his head of house, whose face looked so hard that rock could be broken on it.

"Professor McGonagall! I uh..."

Her raised eyebrow cause him to stop talking, whatever he would have said being lost to the ears of those around him. Her voice was colder than the chilly Scottish weather that the students found themselves in this time of year, and her appearance caused the Gryffindors around him to slowly edge away from the eldest Potter, their fear of the deputy headmistress outweighing their will to support the most popular boy in the school.

"That will be fifty points from Gryffindor, a weeks detention with me and a notice shall be sent to your parents. I'm sure your mother will be quite impressed with your behaviour Mister Potter."

With that, the aged witch turned and stepped into the Great Hall, robes billowing out behind her in a fashion similar to the Slytherin potions teacher. Stunned, Charlus' fellow house members abandoned him and followed their head of house into the Great Hall. As the others left, the Slytherins turned their eyes to the lone remaining Gryffindor, faces wearing wide grins, before Harry started chuckling as he strode towards his brother, putting his wand away as he did.

Clapping his brothers shoulder, Harry smiled in honest amusement before walking off to join the feast, his good mood returning with a vengeance.

"Think you might just need to reevaluate who, between the two of us, is waiting to go bad brother."

-TDR-

Harry sat at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall as he served himself a small amount of dessert, a normally uncommon occurrence for him, but as it was halloween he decided to treat himself a bit.

 _§Blood of my blood. A creature is loose in the castle.§_

Harry's eyes widened at the voice's statement, almost choking on his food as he did so. Garnering a few looks from his fellow Slytherins, he hid his mouth behind his hand and hissed a response as quietly as he could.

 _§What?! What creature?!§_

 _§A troll. Abominable and dimwitted creatures that they are, its wandering around the first floor now§_

 _§Shit!§_

All of a sudden, the doors to the Great Hall burst open as the turban wearing defence professor came running in.

"TROOOLL! TROOOLL IN THE DUNGEONS! Thought you ought to know."

And with that he passed out, paving the way for chaos to follow his words, children screaming in horror, food abandoned in preference of yelling loudly. A loud booming interrupted the commotion, the Headmaster stood with his wand raised, sonorus charm already cast on himself as his voice filled the room.

"Prefects, please lead the students to their dormitories. The teachers and I will search for the creature, in the meantime do not wander off."

' _Is he daft?! Our dorm is in the dungeons!'_

Harry's mind raced at that thought.

 _§The creature is near the first floor bathroom. It can sense the students in their somehow, by smell or sound I cannot say.§_

 _§What students?!§_

 _§One younger one with bushy hair, the other is older with pink hair. What an odd choice.§_

The redhead's face paled at what the voice told him. Hermione and the Hufflepuff, Tonks, were about to meet a troll, and not in controlled circumstances either. Considering his options, he came to a quick conclusion. The teachers had left and the prefects were busy following their orders from the Headmaster, not only would telling them cause a panic, but it would also raise the question of just how he knew where the troll and children were. Swearing he turned to Draco, who was sitting next to him and looking as if he were about to wet his pants if Harry was reading the look on his face correctly.

"Cover for me!"

"Huh? What are you- Harry!"

The blonde's whispered words were lost on the younger Potter brother as he dashed off towards the bathrooms, mingling with other students to avoid suspicion before breaking off to find the two students praying that it wasn't already too late.

He arrived to a scene of disaster.

The door to the bathroom was completely off its hinges, the magically strengthened stones surrounding it were chipped and cracked, and some had even been turned to dust and ripped out of the wall. That was nothing compared to the bathroom itself though, shards of wood and porcelain lay in pools of water, and spells flew from the Hufflepuff's wand as she constantly dodged the clumsy yet powerful blows of the troll. Hermione lay under the sinks, bleeding from the head but Harry could see the small rise and fall of her chest even in her unconscious state.

"Tonks!"

"What?!"

"I'll distract it! Get her out of here!"

"Don't be stupid, you get her!"

"I wouldn't be able to lift her, you get her!"

"Oh for God's sa-"

The pinkette was cut off as the club of the large creature clipped her side, Harry unwittingly providing the distraction it needed. The girl was sent flying into the wall and the troll lumbered after her, club scraping across the wet stone of the bathroom. Eyes wide in horror, Harry tried to think of what he could do to distract the troll.

He started flicking stinging hexes at it and a slew of low powered jinxes and hexes to try and get its attention. Tickling, jelly legs, body binds and even a cutting curse was sent flying at the large creature in his desperation. None of them were strong enough to have any actual effect on the troll, but they did do what he wanted, that being gaining its attention. But he now had no idea what to do with it.

His left hand found its way to the coiled snake in his pocket, the flame and the void being called to his mind. And as he registered the creatures large burst of speed, allowing it to reach him in record time, the nagging in his mind changed from a small tickle to a lance of white hot pain, and he grabbed at it, but it slipped through his fingers like grains of sand.

The troll's club slammed into him, and the pain in his mind was like a candle compared to the sun, pain erupting from his side as he coughed out blood, only to cry out in pain once more when he hit the wall, damaging the other side of his chest. His left arm was broken, laying out beside him, but the eyes of the snake in his hand started glowing with an arcane light as he managed to grab onto the strange feeling in his mind.

His senses sharpened, the world exploded into deep, sharp colours that made him feel as if he were truly seeing for the first time in his life. Eyes gazing around the room, he saw Tonks looking at him in shock, the troll moving closer as tears trailed down her face, unable to move on her seemingly damaged leg. His eyes were drawn to the windows, and, seeing the flashes of lightning illuminating the nights sky, hearing the rumbling of thunder, he dropped his wand and reached for it, fingers grasping at non existent threads.

Suddenly he was filled with energy, the feeling pushing his body to the limit. He felt as if he were about to burst at the seams, eldritch energy suffusing every part of his body, and as the pain reached unbearable levels he screamed in agony. Then as suddenly as it had come, the energy vanished from his body, leaving him feeling drained beyond measure. Then in a flash of light, searing pain and a booming noise, Harry knew no more.

-TDR-

AN: Hey guys! Sorry for the long absence, had a fair few things happening lately which limited how much I could get done on this, but I'm back for now, and hopefully it will stay like this. However, as an apology for the time it took to come back to you guys, you get a double length chapter! Hooray! Anyways, tell me what you guys think in the comments, chuck us some constructive criticism if it suits you and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Arhan out.


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